Observation/Reflection #4 - What Was the Question?
This week, try to pay attention to how your teacher asks questions and facilitates discussion in his or her classes. What types of questions does your CT ask? Are most of the questions asking students to relay facts or textbook definitions (recall) or to apply a concept to a new situation or compare it to another concept (application or analysis). Does your teacher ever encourage his or her students to be critical or skeptical? If so, when and how? Does your CT ever ask students to provide evidence to support a claim or explain their thinking? Does your teacher facilitate classroom discussion so that students are expressing scientific ideas to other students? Finally, does your CT vary the type of questions he or she asks depending on the level of the class, or the perceived ability of the student? Remember to reflect on what types of classroom discourse you want to foster in your classroom, how you will go about doing this, and why.
Please construct each paragraph so that the reader can understand what you focused your observations on without having seen the original questions. - fogleman
Observations:
Today was my first observation at Woonsocket High School. First, I observed an advisory period. The students entered the room and had alot of energy. My CT passed out flyers about 3 sex offenders that were from the area to warn them to be aware. She asked if everyone knew what to do or steps to take if they see these guys in the community. There was a short discussion about what to do to protect themselves and then the class started chatting, off topic, about why she writes up the most students in the school.
Next period I was totally surprised by the Freshmen. After 10 minutes of trying to get the class seated and quiet, my CT started with a demonstration to show conservation of energy. At first, the students seemed interested and she asked what they thought was happening. One student after another were being disruptive, it was like they were feeding off each other. The language that they were using was devastating, all I heard was f*!! She tried to teach the lesson but the students were talking over her, singing, dancing, and were not in their seats. So my CT had to send 3 students to the principles office, when they left the room I heard some of the most disrespectful language ever! (I won't go into details,threats,or the sexually offensive language). Nothing got accomplished. My CT did not say a word, walked to the back of the class, and passed out booklets about energy. She wrote an assignment on the board and the students had to complete it for a test grade. They finally calmed down for the last part of class. Some did the work and some did not. Others did not understand because of their ability levels. I watched these students get frustrated, crinkle up their papers, close the energy booklet and put their heads on the desk. I also observed the lack of supplies in the classroom. I asked about a budget, my CT laughed and told me that all the school gives them is chalk and lined paper.
Reflections: Today at WHS was very different from LMS. My teacher could not even attempt to ask questions in her classes to facilitate discussion. The only questions I heard had to do with asking students if they are gonna behave today and asking some if they wanted detention after school.
I asked about class rules and discipline and my CT told me about the policies and how WHS folllows the theory of "assertive discipline". I can not believe that all the rules in the class were broken! Appropriate language was not used (it was profane,sexual,and dirty), the teacher was totally disrespected by the students (the students told her she was being a bitch and was ignorant), none of the students were prepared (most had no writing utensils), directions were not followed (they were completely ignored), no student at any time raised their hand before they spoke, and many of the students would not even sit down for more than 5 minutes(they are not even supposed to sharpen a pencil without permission)!
I noticed that some students do not speak English well and were given the same work to do without extra help from an educator. Also, I noticed they were all so excited over lunch, i realize that some kids only worry about lunch because that may be their only meal of the day. I can deal with the tremendous number of IEP's, I do not know if I will be able to conduct an inquiry based Science classroom. I was told that you have to lock everything up all the time, never to leave the classroom, and not to give them materials because they destroy them (I guess my CT bought calculators for them because the school does not provide them and many of them crushed the solar pannels).
I do not know what I have positive to say about this placement at this time. I can not answer the questions for this observation at this placement. I am devastated!!! My CT is so burnt out that students swearing is the last thing on her mind. She is trying so hard for control of the class that lessons are not even possible. Some of the students told her they hate her and her class sucks. They do not understand why they have to do any work at all. I did not enjoy seeing her struggle to get control of the class when some students wanted to learn and their time was wasted. Some of these kids have nothing, so they have nothing to lose. Also, how exciting can you make Science with no supplies?! I felt really bad for these students when she told me that.
I was very fortunate in the middle school. My CT at LMS opened every lesson with a question or a demonstration. She has access to videos, computers, and supplies. She used questions to probe students to think critically. Productive discussions took place with sixth graders. When teaching about Evaporation, a lab was conducted (they have the money in the school to use to buy supplies).The rate of evaporation of hot and cold water was tested on paper towels and cotton fabric. Questions were asked to the students about what they observed and why and real life connections were made about cotton teeshirts and under armor. A evidence and claims chart was filled out on the overhead and discussed as a class. For the "B groups" different roles were assigned to keep students engaged and focused but the same core questions were still addressed. Students at LMS behaved for the most part and teachers were respected. My CT had total control of the class without raising her voice. All she had to do was talk to them calmly, give them rules and follow through with them, and give detailed directions for work.
I do realize that Woonsocket is very different from Lincoln in alot of ways (socioeconomic status,culture,ethnicities,backgrounds,etc.) With that said I do believe that my CT at WHS is a very knowledgable and respectable woman. I do believe that I could learn alot from her, but not in this setting. As a student, new to the classroom, I think that I should have the same chance to learn from this experience as my peers. If the purpose of student teaching is to have me observe and educate myself while teaching others, then I am not to sure what to expect. I am willing to give it some time because I may just have went on a really, really bad day. Right now, I do not believe that WHS is a safe place or an enviornment conducive to learning. I do understand that one day I may get hired in an urban setting and I will be happy to have a job. Right now, at this point, I do not think that this is a reasonable placement. I want to learn and help others to do so. Unfortunately, I would need disciplinary figures, maybe police, in the class to get anything done.
Class Topic: Questions
Grade:9
Observed by: Talia Delmonico
Observation/Reflection #4 - What Was the Question?
This week, try to pay attention to how your teacher asks questions and facilitates discussion in his or her classes. What types of questions does your CT ask? Are most of the questions asking students to relay facts or textbook definitions (recall) or to apply a concept to a new situation or compare it to another concept (application or analysis). Does your teacher ever encourage his or her students to be critical or skeptical? If so, when and how? Does your CT ever ask students to provide evidence to support a claim or explain their thinking? Does your teacher facilitate classroom discussion so that students are expressing scientific ideas to other students? Finally, does your CT vary the type of questions he or she asks depending on the level of the class, or the perceived ability of the student? Remember to reflect on what types of classroom discourse you want to foster in your classroom, how you will go about doing this, and why.Please construct each paragraph so that the reader can understand what you focused your observations on without having seen the original questions. -
Observations:
Today was my first observation at Woonsocket High School. First, I observed an advisory period. The students entered the room and had alot of energy. My CT passed out flyers about 3 sex offenders that were from the area to warn them to be aware. She asked if everyone knew what to do or steps to take if they see these guys in the community. There was a short discussion about what to do to protect themselves and then the class started chatting, off topic, about why she writes up the most students in the school.Next period I was totally surprised by the Freshmen. After 10 minutes of trying to get the class seated and quiet, my CT started with a demonstration to show conservation of energy. At first, the students seemed interested and she asked what they thought was happening. One student after another were being disruptive, it was like they were feeding off each other. The language that they were using was devastating, all I heard was f*!! She tried to teach the lesson but the students were talking over her, singing, dancing, and were not in their seats. So my CT had to send 3 students to the principles office, when they left the room I heard some of the most disrespectful language ever! (I won't go into details,threats,or the sexually offensive language). Nothing got accomplished. My CT did not say a word, walked to the back of the class, and passed out booklets about energy. She wrote an assignment on the board and the students had to complete it for a test grade. They finally calmed down for the last part of class. Some did the work and some did not. Others did not understand because of their ability levels. I watched these students get frustrated, crinkle up their papers, close the energy booklet and put their heads on the desk. I also observed the lack of supplies in the classroom. I asked about a budget, my CT laughed and told me that all the school gives them is chalk and lined paper.
Reflections:
Today at WHS was very different from LMS. My teacher could not even attempt to ask questions in her classes to facilitate discussion. The only questions I heard had to do with asking students if they are gonna behave today and asking some if they wanted detention after school.
I asked about class rules and discipline and my CT told me about the policies and how WHS folllows the theory of "assertive discipline". I can not believe that all the rules in the class were broken! Appropriate language was not used (it was profane,sexual,and dirty), the teacher was totally disrespected by the students (the students told her she was being a bitch and was ignorant), none of the students were prepared (most had no writing utensils), directions were not followed (they were completely ignored), no student at any time raised their hand before they spoke, and many of the students would not even sit down for more than 5 minutes(they are not even supposed to sharpen a pencil without permission)!
I noticed that some students do not speak English well and were given the same work to do without extra help from an educator. Also, I noticed they were all so excited over lunch, i realize that some kids only worry about lunch because that may be their only meal of the day. I can deal with the tremendous number of IEP's, I do not know if I will be able to conduct an inquiry based Science classroom. I was told that you have to lock everything up all the time, never to leave the classroom, and not to give them materials because they destroy them (I guess my CT bought calculators for them because the school does not provide them and many of them crushed the solar pannels).
I do not know what I have positive to say about this placement at this time. I can not answer the questions for this observation at this placement. I am devastated!!! My CT is so burnt out that students swearing is the last thing on her mind. She is trying so hard for control of the class that lessons are not even possible. Some of the students told her they hate her and her class sucks. They do not understand why they have to do any work at all. I did not enjoy seeing her struggle to get control of the class when some students wanted to learn and their time was wasted. Some of these kids have nothing, so they have nothing to lose. Also, how exciting can you make Science with no supplies?! I felt really bad for these students when she told me that.
I was very fortunate in the middle school. My CT at LMS opened every lesson with a question or a demonstration. She has access to videos, computers, and supplies. She used questions to probe students to think critically. Productive discussions took place with sixth graders. When teaching about Evaporation, a lab was conducted (they have the money in the school to use to buy supplies).The rate of evaporation of hot and cold water was tested on paper towels and cotton fabric. Questions were asked to the students about what they observed and why and real life connections were made about cotton teeshirts and under armor. A evidence and claims chart was filled out on the overhead and discussed as a class. For the "B groups" different roles were assigned to keep students engaged and focused but the same core questions were still addressed. Students at LMS behaved for the most part and teachers were respected. My CT had total control of the class without raising her voice. All she had to do was talk to them calmly, give them rules and follow through with them, and give detailed directions for work.
I do realize that Woonsocket is very different from Lincoln in alot of ways (socioeconomic status,culture,ethnicities,backgrounds,etc.) With that said I do believe that my CT at WHS is a very knowledgable and respectable woman. I do believe that I could learn alot from her, but not in this setting. As a student, new to the classroom, I think that I should have the same chance to learn from this experience as my peers. If the purpose of student teaching is to have me observe and educate myself while teaching others, then I am not to sure what to expect. I am willing to give it some time because I may just have went on a really, really bad day. Right now, I do not believe that WHS is a safe place or an enviornment conducive to learning. I do understand that one day I may get hired in an urban setting and I will be happy to have a job. Right now, at this point, I do not think that this is a reasonable placement. I want to learn and help others to do so. Unfortunately, I would need disciplinary figures, maybe police, in the class to get anything done.
Class Topic: Questions
Grade:9
Observed by: Talia Delmonico